H2o + co2 <---> h2co3 <---> hco3- + h+

[ukae]

I really don't get something in this equation as it relates to regulating pH in the blood through the respiratory system. So when your body is too basic, you would breathe faster so that you remove CO2, thus shifting that equation to the right, generating more H+ and becoming more acidic.

My question is, when you shift that equation to the right, you are not only generating H+ which is an acid, but also the bicarbonate base! So wouldn't that balance out and do nothing? T_T

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[monkeyvokes]

I really don't get something in this equation as it relates to regulating pH in the blood through the respiratory system. So when your body is too basic, you would breathe faster so that you remove CO2, thus shifting that equation to the right, generating more H+ and becoming more acidic.

My question is, when you shift that equation to the right, you are not only generating H+ which is an acid, but also the bicarbonate base! So wouldn't that balance out and do nothing? T_T

hyperventilate gets rid of CO2 and shifts equation to the left, raising the pH.
pH is -log[H+], and the H+ stays dissociated because the pH of blood is greater than the pka of carbonic acid.

 

[ukae]

hyperventilate gets rid of CO2 and shifts equation to the left, raising the pH.
pH is -log[H+], and the H+ stays dissociated because the pH of blood is greater than the pka of carbonic acid.

Ohh right, sorry I got confused. So when your body is too basic, you would hypoventilate and try to cause acidification of the blood by shifting the equation to the right. So you are saying that when the H+ and HCO3- are formed from this process, the H+ stays as H+ in the blood and acidifies the blood ... but what exactly happens to HCO3-? Thank you!!

 

[monkeyvokes]

Ohh right, sorry I got confused. So when your body is too basic, you would hypoventilate and try to cause acidification of the blood by shifting the equation to the right. So you are saying that when the H+ and HCO3- are formed from this process, the H+ stays as H+ in the blood and acidifies the blood ... but what exactly happens to HCO3-? Thank you!!

bicarbonate floats around as buffer.. it's the conjugate base of a strong acid so it is content in the pH of blood.

(when i first typed this I misspelled floats so it said bicarbonate gloats around, lol)

 

[karankalani]

bicarbonate floats around as buffer.. it's the conjugate base of a strong acid so it is content in the pH of blood.

(when i first typed this I misspelled floats so it said bicarbonate gloats around, lol)

So the bicarb that is released from carbonic acid cannot buffer the proton. But when we have an external load of acid which causes a load of protons, the bicarb does combine with the protons !
So what is the difference between the release of protons from another acid and from carbonic acid ?

 

[chemtopper]

I really don't get something in this equation as it relates to regulating pH in the blood through the respiratory system. So when your body is too basic, you would breathe faster so that you remove CO2, thus shifting that equation to the right, generating more H+ and becoming more acidic.

My question is, when you shift that equation to the right, you are not only generating H+ which is an acid, but also the bicarbonate base! So wouldn't that balance out and do nothing? T_T

shifting of equation in the direction of H+ and HCO3- will make it acidic because HCO3- is a weaker base in comparison of acidity of H+

 

[chemist16]

Remember that a strong acid will want to be deprotonated and exist as the weaker conjugate base. In other words, the acid-base equilibrium will be shifted right. That is, the rate of dissociation is kinetically higher than the rate of recombination.

 

[chemtopper]

You can compare pKa of the carbonic acid ..H2CO3 with pKa of the HCO3 - ...pKa of the carbonic acid is 6.37 and pKa of the HCO3- is 10.32 ...higher pKa means smaller Ka which means weaker acid........so H2CO3 is stronger acid in comparison to HCO3- ... so H2CO3 gets deprotonated and shifts the equilibrium in the direction of HCO3-